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Distasturkey

Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
It must be a learning curve problem....[p]I've had my egg for two weeks and ventured into "smoking" territory for the first time last night. So, the perfect turkey should take 12-15 minutes/pound to reach internal temp of 180 with a dome temp of 300 F., right.[p]Not for me.[p]I put the turkey (10 lbs, vertical rack) on at 6:00 thinking that the latest I wanted to eat was 9:00. 2 1/2 hours would be my outside time, with 30 minutes for resting. If early, no problem. The problem was that at 8:30, the internal temp was only 130 F. I'll save you the blow-by-blow, but I finally took the turkey off the grill at 10:30 p.m. and it still had an internal temp of just under 160 F. During the whole process, the grill dipped below 300 F. for about 5 minutes and only made it down to about 280 before I corrected. The rest of the time was between 300 and 325.[p]Of course, I thought: "Joyce you moron, you did the math wrong!" But I'm pretty sure that 15 minutes per pound on a 10 lb turkey is 150 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. Why was my turkey still gobbling after 4 hours?[p]thanks.[p]Joyce

Comments

  • QBabe
    QBabe Posts: 2,275
    Joyce,
    Have you calibrated your dome thermometer yet? It's possible that what you thought was 325° really wasn't.[p]QBabe
    :~)

  • QBabe,[p]Sorry, I meant to mention that. Yes, the dome thermometer goes straight to 212 in boiling water.
  • Joyce,
    somewhere on here is a recipe for brined turkey that is a winner works everytime and i can tell you there will be no leftovers i think that one cooks at either 325 or 350 i am sure some of the eggsperts will chime in soon with their good thoughts and advice

  • JSlot
    JSlot Posts: 1,218
    300° is a little low for cooking a turkey, IMHO. I cook mine at 350° indirect and 2½ hours is normal for a 12 lb. bird. Another possibility is that the bird wasn't fully thawed inside. Oh, and make sure all thermometers are calibrated properly. Next time, raise the temp to 350°. I think you'll like the results.[p]Jim
  • Jim,[p]Thanks! Humble opinions are what this is all about. I just checked my thermometer after reading some things about thermometers getting out of whack. Mine is still good. Also I found some discussions of dome temperature versus cooking surface temp. My thermometer only has a 3" probe, so perhaps I was dealing with a bit of variance dropping the temp around the turkey even below 300. I'll have to explore this a bit more.[p]Still, after 4 hours on a 10 pounder, seems like I should have been closer that 25 degrees from done.[p]I'll try brining and 350 next time. Thanks so much for taking the time to advise.[p]JT [p]
  • VS,[p]Yes, good advice seems available pretty quickly for newbies like me...what great people, here. Thanks.[p]JT
  • Wise One
    Wise One Posts: 2,645
    Joyce, at 300 degrees I think it is closer to 20 minutes per pound. At 350 it gets to about 15 minutes per pound and at 375 you may get closer to 12 minutes per pound. Just my experience.

  • Wise One,[p]Great to have an opinion from the wise one! [p]Do you have a preferred temperature at which to cook a turkey for tender and juicy results, or is anywhere between 300 and 350 pretty good. No, not pretty good...I guess I'd like to shoot for excellent or awesome. Yeah, awesome would be good.[p]thx.[p]JT
  • Zip
    Zip Posts: 372
    Joyce,[p]I would tend to agree with Jim about the temp of the turkey starting out partially frozen. I see you used a spanek, but did you use anything else like a plate setter, firebricks, or a pizza stone that would account for additional mass?[p]Ashley

  • QBabe
    QBabe Posts: 2,275
    Zip,[p]Hey stranger! Your computers and email back now? We need to catch up when you get a chance...[p]Tonia
    :~)

  • Nature Boy
    Nature Boy Posts: 8,687
    Joyce,
    I think the dome verse the cooking temp issue could definitely explain your problem. Was your turkey in a v-rack in a deep drip pan?? If so, the temp around the meat was probably quite a bit lower that the 350 up in the dome. Just a hunch though, as I am not sure of your setup. Elevating the v-rack and turkey several inches above the drip pan seems to help a great deal.[p]Just some thoughts!
    Better luck next time.
    Chris

    DizzyPigBBQ.com
    Twitter: @dizzypigbbq
    Facebook: Dizzy Pig Seasonings
    Instagram: @DizzyPigBBQ
  • Mop
    Mop Posts: 496
    Joyce,
    cook the turkey at a solid 350º, below that its not fit for the dumpster.

  • Mop
    Mop Posts: 496
    Joyce,without a brine and a temp of 350º you may as well make a smokey pizza.....[p]Brine it and cook no less than 350º....even if the temp bumps up to 375º, its no biggie, it just cuts down your cooking time.
    Also rub the birdy with some good olive oil and you may need to wrap the wing tips cause they do burn a little.....
    Jam a few carrots, celery and onions under the wings during the cook too....
    Tell em 'Mop' told ya how to do it....
    You'll love me!

  • Zip,
    I lost you on "account for the additional mass"[p]I had the spanek in a 9 x 12 roasting pan to catch the juice. The pan and spanek were placed on the original grid in it's original location. The pan didn't have any water in it. The bird didn't feel frozen. I unwrapped in and took all the stuff out early that morning to check it. It was nice and loose without any stiffness that would have indicated still-frozen areas to me.[p]thanks to everybody for the tremendous input. Instead of feeling the learning curves blues, I am now eager to try again.[p]Joyce

  • Mop,
    I can't wait to love it myself! Thanks for the instructions. You have such a clear way of speaking![p]JT

  • Joyce, I'm like JSlot. I like 350. However, if my turkey's too big or my time too short (i.e. lack of planning) I'll shoot it up to 375 to 400. Remember also that your doem theromometer registers higher (any where from 10 to 25 degrees) than your grill temp. If your dome says 325, you might be cooking at 310 or even less.

  • Zip
    Zip Posts: 372
    Joyce,[p]When I spoke of "Additional Mass" I didn't know what you may have place the turkey on. Folks use a variety of stuff to create a indirect cook like a platesetter, pizza stones, empty pans or filled with broken tiles, sand, or water, quarry tiles, cast iron pans, do lids, bundt pans, and the list goes on and on. The reason I asked is that with the addition of these things, the fire will have to work that much harder/take more time for the temps to equalize throughout the cooker.[p]I'm a little stumped as to why it took that long for a turkey to cook, even at that temp. I would agree that 350º up to 400º food level temp is what I prefer. Practice from additional cooks certainly bring you a greater understanding of you new cooker. As much as folks would like to say this is a set it and forget cooker, you still have to learn it.[p]Don't give up and keep practicing and asking questions.....it will only get better.[p]Ashley
  • Huck
    Huck Posts: 110
    Mop,
    Hate to be contrary here, I have, and always will, cook my birds at 250 until I get 160 degrees in the breast meat. I can't eat skin anyway. It takes about six to eight hours and I cook the bird breast down over a drip pan. Heaven, purrrre heaven. Never had a complaint, quite the contrary, it's always been "that's the best turkey I've ever had!)[p]